Reporter’s notebook: Mom says son saved her life

A Clovis mother is crediting God, her son, and actor Robin Williams for saving her life Wednesday.

Shelly Burger said she was sitting down watching television and eating a bowl of cereal when a piece of cereal lodged itself in her throat and blocked her airway.

“I couldn’t get it loose,” she said. “I couldn’t get any air. I couldn’t do anything. I was just getting to the point that I was getting ready to just pass out.”

Burger said she was able to eke a request to her 11-year-old son, Trevor, to hit her on the back to dislodge the cereal.
Instead, she said the Zia Elementary sixth grader came behind his mother and performed the Heimlich maneuver. The cereal cluster flew out of her, she said.

Burger said she did not know her son knew the life-saving move. Trevor later confessed to learning the move from the movie “Mrs. Doubtfire.” She said she believes God gave Trevor the courage he needed to perform the procedure.

“He was terrified,” she said. “It took a lot to just calm down and get a grip and do what he did. We pray every day at our house and place angels around us, and they were there last night around us taking care of us.”